ABSTRACT

Diversion from formal proceedings through the Young Offenders Act 1997 (NSW) (YOA) is only available if an ‘admission of guilt’ has been made by the offender. Young people are often reluctant to admit guilt to the police. Acknowledgement of this has in recent years resulted in the development of the Protection Admission Scheme (PAS) aimed at removing this barrier to diversion. To date, there has been no published review of the police’s implementation of the PAS. This paper begins to address this gap and raises some important issues relating to the operation of the diversionary scheme governed by the YOA and the challenges raised by the legislative requirement for an admission of guilt as part of diversionary eligibility. Through an analysis of the findings derived from six in-depth interviews with members of the NSW Police Force, the paper highlights two issues hindering the use of the PAS. Firstly, a systematic fault or contradiction between policy and its administration; secondly, police culture and traditional practices fostering resistance to the application of the PAS. The paper concludes that despite the PAS, the requirement for an admission of guilt continues to be a barrier to diversion. The findings provide valuable insights for policymakers.

摘要

通过1997 年青年罪犯法从正式诉讼转移(NSW) (YOA) 只有在罪犯“承认有罪”的情况下才可用。年轻人往往不愿意向警方认罪。近年来，对这一点的承认导致了保护准入计划 (PAS) 的发展，旨在消除这种转移障碍。迄今为止，还没有关于警方实施伊斯兰党的公开评论。本文开始着手解决这一差距，并提出了一些与由 YOA 管辖的转移计划的运作有关的重要问题，以及作为转移资格的一部分承认有罪的立法要求所带来的挑战。通过对来自新南威尔士州警察部队成员的六次深度访谈的结果的分析，该论文强调了阻碍使用 PAS 的两个问题。首先，政策与其管理之间的系统性错误或矛盾；其次，警察文化和传统做法助长了对 PAS 应用的抵制。该论文的结论是，尽管有 PAS，但认罪的要求仍然是转移的障碍。研究结果为决策者提供了宝贵的见解。